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United SMCS PatentO HANDLE William Finkelstein, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application October 28, 1955, Serial No. 543,453

" 1 claim. (cino-57) My invention relates to handles, and particularly relates to carrying handles for use on luggae, bags, handbags, suitcases, briefcases, and other related objects.

The invention particularly relates to a handle which is adapted to lie ilat against a suitcase when it is not in use, and which can be raised above the suitcase for the insertion of a hand to enable the person carrying the bag or luggage to obtain a comfortable grip upon the handle.

This invention is of the general type as illustrated in the William Finkelstein Patent No. 2,195,028.

it is an object of my invention to provide a plastic molded handle wherein the hand engaging portion is comfortable to grip, and wherein the handle will lie flat upon the suitcase when it is not in use, and wherein an advertisement or matching piece of fabric may be inserted within the interior of the handle.

Another object of my invention is to povide a at lying comfortable handle wherein the body is of a transparent molded plastic material such as a thermoplastic material.

Another object of my invention is to provide a handle of thermoplastic molded material which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which may be easily and readily coupled to the bag.

Another object of my invention is to provide a handle including end coupling links which will enable the handle to lie flat upon a bag.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved device of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly elfective in use.

With the above and related objects in view, my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a thermoplastic handle of the sandwich type with coupling links embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken through the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4- is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an exploded View of the various elements embodied in the handle shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a side view of the handle as coupled to a suitcase and lying upon the suitcase -as illustrated in full lines, and wherein the handle is shown in raised position las illustrated by the dotted lines.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawing, wherein similar reference characters refer to similar pats, I show in Figs. l and 6 a handle embodying my invention which is adapted to lie upon or be raised from a suitcase. The handle comprises a lower sandwich portion member or section, generally designated A, which is of clear or translucent molded thermoplastic material. The member A is integrally molded and it has a main central body portion 10 which is U-shaped in cross section with the rim 10A appearing as spaced legs. The outer bounding surface 11 of the lower member A is smooth yin order to permit the palm of the hand or the fingers to comfortably grasp the outer surface. The lower member A has an inside cavity 12 and it provides fora portion of the sides to have a continuous curved outer bounding surface 11 as illustrated in Fig. 3. The handle is narrow at the central portion in order to provide more comfort for the hand. There is an inside cavity 12 which is concave in a cross-sectional plane to provide for the seating of a colored strip, generally designated as B. The strip B may be of material matching the luggage, or it may carry some symbol or advertising thereon. There is a tiat surface 14 at the uppermost portion of the lower section A, and there are a pair of recesses 16 for the reception of a screw or nail in the surface 14.

The upper portion of section A is closed by another plastic transparent or translucent portion, member or sandwich section, generally designated as C, which complements the lower section A. The sections A and C form a sandwich type of handle, and the outer edges of the Lipper portion C have a downwardly extending rim 18 which interts with a niche or recess 20 on the rim or peripheral edge 10A of the lower section A. In other words, rim 18 on the upper section C interts with the peripheral recess 20 on the lower section A so that the outer surface of the sections A and C are continuous to form a smooth handle. The rim 18, together with the flat central portion 17 of the upper section C, enables a flat strip, generally designated as D, to nestle therebetween.

The flat strip D, again made of luggage matching material, may be placed upon the inner recess 22 of the upper sandwich section C to match the luggage. A pair of holding screws or nails 24 (Fig. 5) pass through openings 26 in the upper llat plastic section C and through openings 28 in the upper fabric material D and are embedded in the holes 16 whereby the sandwich sections A and C are securely held together.

At the ends of the lower sandwich section A, and at each end, there is a longitudinally `extending wall 30 which terminates in an end transverse wall 32 to form a T-shape end. The longitudinal wall 30 serves to separate two ends 34, 36 of a link or ring, generally signed E, and strengthens the end wall 32. The spacer and strengthening wall 30 joins the end wall 32 and the end wall 32 acts as a stop for the ends 34 and 36 of the link E. The link E serves to join the luggage to the handle and in this particular case, the link is rectangular in configuration. The wall 30 is vertically extending, and the lower surface 38 is an extension of the body portion 10 with the ends 34, 36 of the link adapted to rest upon the tlat portion 38, as is illustrated in Figs. l, 2, and 6. The wall 30, at its upper portion, also terminates in a slight ridge 40, so that when the upper portion of the sandwich section C isplaced upon the lower portion, the ridge 40 serves as a guide for the proper coordination of the two sections of the segments A and C.

It is to be observed that the end sections 34 and 36 of the link E are able to be shifted from the inner portion 32A of the wall 32 to the wall 42.

In operation, the ring or loop E is placed within an anchor or other bag attaching means, and then the link E can be elevated to an upright position, as in Fig. 6, and then when the handle is lowered, the end of the ring will have a tendency to approach the wall 42, as shown in solid lines in Fig. 6. With the construction described, the handle can be placed adjacent the top 46 of the luggage, or elevated from the luggage in its carrying position.

Since the plasticV material is strong, it can take the necessary weight and abuse that the ordinary handle is subjected to. Furthermore, the transparency of the sandwich portions A and C enables the suitcase manufacturer to insert matching sections B and D within the'interior of the handle, or they may insert advertisements, as they see fit.

It is to be observed that the configuration of the handle around the mid-portion serves as a substantially contiguous, smooth, bounding surface so that there is no danger of injuring the fingers or marring any object that may come into contact with the handle.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim as my invention:

In a transparent or translucent baggage handle comprising a top transparent or translucent plastic sandwich member and a bottom transparent or translucent plastic sandwich member, each member having a rim to define a cavity therein, the rim on the bottom section being recessed from its outer side surface, the rim on said upper portion intcrtitting and overlapping the recessed portion of the rim on the lower section whereby the outer surface is continuous, the ends on the lower section extending away from said rim thereon, said ends cach having a pair of walls extending at right angles to one another to provide a T-shaped end, a split shaped ring or bag attaching loop, said split end of said ring being held freely by said T-shaped end whereby the handle may be raised or lowered to lie against the surfac-c of the luggage to which said handle is attached.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,459,755 Speidel June 26, 1923 2,678,707 Finkelstein May 18, 1954 2,747,310 Tierney May 29, 1956 

